Combined shaft-loop and buckle.



PATENTED APR. 21, 1903.

G. E. BERRY. COMBINED SHAFT LOOP AND BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Hdii

gy Igael for.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EDWARD BERRY, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

COMBINED SHAFT-LOOP AND BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 725,658, dated April21, 1903.

Application filed January 10,1903. Serial No. 138,561. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES EDWARD BERRY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Somerville, in the county of Sufiolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Combined Shaft-Loop andBuckle, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to combined shaftloops and buckles; and it consistsof the structures hereinafter fully described and claimed, and shown inthe accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce a device of the class mentionedin which the wear upon the harness-strap will be reduced to a minimumand which while it cannot be accidentally detached from the harnesswhile the shaft is in position in the loop may be very readilydisengaged whenv the shaft is withdrawn from the loop.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is'a perspective view of myinvention wit-h the strap secured by the buckle. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview showing both shaft and strap in position in the device.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures.

The body portion of the loop is indicated by the reference character 1.

2 is a strap-guide at the side of the loop, 3 another strap-guide at thetop of the loop, and 4 a secondary loop for attachment to the bellybandof the harness.

5 is the buckle-tongue, pivoted at 6 and having a limited swingingmovement in the slot 7 in the outer side of the main portion of theloop, its outward movement being limited by the strap-guide 2 and itsinner movement limited by the end of the slot 7, against which theoutwardly -turned end of the tongue strikes. The portion of thebuckle-tongue which passes through the strap 9, which, it will beunderstood, passes upward over the back of the horse, is the outwardlyturned end 11. at an oblique angle to the main portion of thebuckle-tongue, for reasons that will hereinafter appear. Opposite theend 11 the buckletongue is prolonged beyond the pivot 6 to form aflattened portion 12,which rests against the strap 9 when the buckle isclosed.

In operating my combined shaft-loop and buckle the strap which is to besecured in po- This outwardly-turned portion is set sition is passeddownward through the strapguide 3. The lower end of the buckle-tongue isthen pressed inward sufficiently to allow the end of the strap to passthrough the strapguide 2 until the hole in the strap at which it isdesired the buckle-tongue shall engage lies over the outwardly-turnedportion 11. The buckle-tongue is now passed through the strap and movedoutward until its inner surface lies approximately flush with the innersurface of the loop 1. The shaft 13 is now passed through the loop 1,and the tongue 5 is held in engagement with the strap as long as theshaft lies at the bottom of the loop. When the weight of the shaft isthrown on the bottom of the loop 1, the strap 9 is drawn taut'andpresses against the flattened portion 12 of the buckle-tongue, servingto aid in holding the end 11 of the tongue in engagement with the strap.When it is desired to release the strap from the buckle, the shaft mustfirst be with drawn from the loop or pushed to one side sufficiently topermit the tongue 5 to be swung inward far enough to disengage from thestrap. In order to disengage the tongue from the strap, when the shafthas been moved out of the way it is only necessary to seize the lowerend of the strap and pull it sharply downward. The upper inclinedsurface of the outwardly-turned portion 11 of the tongue is at such anangle to the direction in which the strap is pulled that the tongue isforced inward by the pull upon the strap, and the tongue is disengagedfrom the hole in which it has been engaged. The tongue having beenforced out of engagement with the strap, the latter may be drawn upwardthrough the two guides in the usual way.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that when a strap isengaged by the tongue buckle in my device, there is no appreciable wearupon the strap anywhere except at the hole through which the tonguepasses, for the reason that the strap is not strained across either ofthe guides through which it passes, and hence does not rub on either oneof them.

That my combined shaft-loop and buckle is very secure is evident fromthe fact that in orderto release the strap the shaft in the loop musteither be withdrawn or pushed upward and to one side to give enough playto the tongue to permit it to be withdrawn from engagement with thestrap.

Having now fully described the construction and operation of my combinedshaft-loop and buckle, what I regard as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A combined shaft-loop and buckle comprising a one-piece loop having aslot in the wall thereof, strap-guides on said loop, a pivotedbuckle-tongue mounted in the slot in the wall of said loop and adaptedto swing toward the interior of said loop, said buckle-tongue having oneend bent at an oblique angle to the main portion of said tongue, and themain portion of said tongue adapted to be engaged by a shaft when inposition in the loop, substantially as described.

2. A combined shaft-loop and buckle, comprising a loop, strap-guides onsaid loop, a buckle-tongue mounted in the wall of said loop, one end ofsaid tongue being adapted to penetrate astrap passed through the strapguides, and the other end adapted to be engaged by the strap to preventthe penetrating end from becoming disengaged from the strap,substantially as described.

3. Acombined shaft-loop and buckle, consisting of a loop, strap-guideson said loop, a buckle-tongue pivoted in the wall of said loop, saidtongue having its main portion adapted to be engaged by a shaft when inposition in said loop, and a prolongation adapted to be engaged by astrap passed through the strap-guide, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, a shaft-loop having in its outerwall a seat for a buckle-tongue, strap-guides at top and side of saidloop, a buckle-tongue pivotally mounted in a seat in the outer side ofsaid loop having an outwardly-bent portion at one end adapted topenetrate a strap passed through the side strap-guide, and a flattenedportion at the other end adapted to be engaged by the strap when passedthrough the top strapguide', substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES EDWARD BERRY.

Witnesses:

LILIAN G. GREEN, ALBERT F. BUFFUM.

